Grimtale
by Mysterious jester
Summary: A human child falls into the bleak underground. Will they befriend the despite monsters there, or succumb to their will of death and despair. Rated T for graphic violence and other things I can't remember from the terms and guidelines.
1. Chapter 1

Long ago in a time the world itself forgot, there were two races; humans and monsters. They lived in absolute harmony for many a century, until a war of blood casted the peace away. The humans with numbers and more powerful souls, defeated and banished the monsters deep underground. They stayed there, locked in a rocky tomb of darkness and despair for thousands of years.

Then one day a human child had fallen into the tomb of monsters and changed everything.

* * *

A solid thump echoed the small pocket of the underground. The rare bit of sunlight that was created, gleamed on a human child that was laying down on a circle of black feathers. Not a sound was heard from the child, not even breathing or the rustling of the feathers.

Then they started to shift and stir with life that was almost lost. They rolled over with a wide gasp of the cold and musty air. They looked to the left and to the right, only to see the dark cavern of which they had fallen in. Feeling disappointed at this turn of events they had proceeded down the cavern.

There was no light further down and the feeling of having the senses depraved followed. It felt weird to them, the cold and senseless feeling on their body. The only sound was their footsteps barely slipping on the damp limestone below.

They tripped and collided with a pillier of eroded stone. The little drips of red liquid streamed acrossed their face, blinding their right eye. The pain in their mind was literal hell and their senses were impaired by it. They felt around the pillar and a slight gust of wind behind it. They followed the new wind, with nothing to go on except the wall that they followed.

A new beam of light invaded their sight, the concussion they gained didn't help at all. When the light died down, they saw a black bird that was staring at them dead in the eye.

"Didn't except a human to fall shorty there after the last." The bird hummed before flying around the child's head. "So small to, so small this child is! The life you have will live no more in these last hours!" They chirped as the human clutched their ears even more. "A child so little must be innocent, therefore a fight will end you in a casket!" The child tried to swipe them away. "Oh a fight this child somehow brings, an idiot they must be to fight a new ally!" They stopped, a insecure smile on their face.

"F-Friend?" They were going crazy, they must be for a bird to be like this. They wiped the blood off their face, but the bird was still there.

"Did I chime twice like the clock of midnight, ha!" It then perched on the top of their head. "In this world death is the only option, so a temporary ally would benefit most greatly in a reaper's world!" The bird then cawed at the opposite end of the small pocket of light. "The gatekeeper approaches, she will never let you escape this prison of black kindness!"

As soon as the bird finished a soft pattern of thumps enter their ears. Then a bipedal goat with purple robes and eyes that are yelling for sleep stepped into the light. There was a depraved smile on her face, a ghost of smile one might say. "Oh, another child in need of protection." Her was soft yet lost in another world. She approched with a quick, annoyed glance at the black bird. "My name is Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." She held out a giant paw for the child. "My child, so small and fragile, would you like a home?" There were red flags going off in the child's head, but the injury they sustained did make her words convincing enough.

"O-Okay..." Toriel then led them into the Ruins, a heavily eroded dungeon. The first room looked like a pressure plate puzzle with no clear indication on what to do.

"There are traps to test humans, I will solve the first for you." She stepped on three of six rusted pressure plates, which caused a door covered in an ivy overgrowth to open. However the other three plates sprouted decaying wood spikes. The child started to cry from the sudden and deadly surprise. Toriel went to the child in distress, and hugged them. "It's alright my child, Toriel is here..." The soft voice and the petting from the furry paw, calmed the child down. "Now, let's not dawdle for to long now." She took a quick glare at the black bird. "Who knows what lies waiting in the future?"

The bird cawed in humorous laughter. "You fear the future, yet you hurl in disgust at the past!" The glance of hatred was directed at the bird and over the kid's head. "Hypocrisy you are, gatekeeper.."

Toriel growl slightly before looking at the nervous child in her arms. "Why is this..thing with you!?" The gatekeeper says with irreplaceable fury.

"I'm a crow, blind gatekeeper, not a toy or your dishes!" The crow yelled back with equal negativity.

"He's m-my friend, please d-don't hurt him." The voice was almost quiet enough to go past even the goat's ears.

She then picked them up like a mother would and proceeded deeper in the ruins, leaving the crow behind. "You need a better choice of friends down here, that bird only know death and decay."

"And yet the pet of death has eternal wisdom, more so then you at least." The voice of the crow followed the gatekeeper and the child. The human looked towards the right and found them, flying at pace with the gatekeeper. "You know they need the knowledge of war, everybody does."

"Not this one, foul bird!" She hissed at him, her pace quickening. "Peace and kindness are the only thing one needs to live."

He cackled as if it heard a truly funny joke. "Funny, your mind is. An illusion you want to be, an impossible utopia." The crow succeeds in passing her fast movement. "Do other monsters share your illusion, is so why carry them like it was your newborn!" It flew towards a torn and beat up dummy, resembling a human with a scarred face. "So, let them, at the very least to get use to this underworld that is your twisted dreams!" There was a brief pause of tension between the crow's bright red eyes and Toriel's dim crystal blue.

She let out a tired sigh of defeat. "Fine, it's not like they need it!" The crow perched on the dummy's shoulder and pulled out a stick from it's stuffing. The crow then circled around the child before dropping the stick at their feet.

"We will let the child prove your dream false." The crow looked at the child. "One swing, that's all it takes." The child picked up the stick and paused.

Toriel crouched down towards the child and gave them a reassuring touch on the shoulder. "My child, no one will judge you if you swing, but one should not resort to violence." The child's hands starts shaking.

"Ha, advice, the one thing nobody listens to." The crow starts to snicker from it's own dark joke. "They will not listen to you or I, but only to themselves." The child starts to shed tiny tears. "So choose in you own fragile self, decide your own fate."

The tension was to much for the young human and they broke down and bawled. "I can't, I-I.." They start to fumble with their own words.

Toriel then hugged them tightly. "I think the child has had enough of this, you dirty Crow!" She muttered the last part for the sake of the child's innocence.

"The only one dirty here is your delusions of a peaceful utopia, Gatekeeper!" The Crow then dodged a minuscule fireball from Toriel, which the human did not notice in thier tears. "I also forgot that temper you posses, well then..." The bird started to fly away before giving the child one last glance. "Like I said the choice is yours alone. What happens next is up to you and you alone!"

The bird then disappears in the shadows of darkness. "..." The child was silent, suddenly tired from the outburst of their own emotions.

Toriel notices and picks them up with vigor. "I can see you're tired, so sleep and wake up nice and cozy." The human then blacked out, exhausted from this experience and pressure.


	2. Chapter 2

It felt nice, this dream the human was having. Being on a nice, breezy hill with a migration of birds flying overhead. The clouds and sun above the birds seamed likened to play and fly with them.

The human reached out, but the birds were out of reach of their grasp. Why were they so intent on trying to play with the birds, a desire for fun, a need for a friend, or a dream of escape? The last thought seamed to resonate with the human as the green hill turned to a coal rot and the birds now carrying feathers of black death.

"The choice is coming human, what follows may be your life or the end of it all!" The feathers that the birds had, now molted and homed in on the child. The human ducked for cover as the feathers now orbited around them in an imperfect sphere.

The human took a glance and saw a small figure in this feather storm. "W-What do you mean! Tell me!" The figure disappeared and the feathers then fully stole the humans vision of the sight before them.

"You find out soon enough, now go before it is too late!" Then a scream of absolute terror and pain ruptured their ears, snapping them out of the nightmare.

* * *

They jolted, almost falling off a bed that had comforted them during the night. "W-Wha.." It was certainly a surprise for them, but a very nice one. "Comfy~" She smiled as she rolled in the blanket that came with the bed. "So soft~" It was definitely a nice change of pace, then a powerful smell hit thier noise. "Ew..."

They turned to find a plate of food that might have been left during the night. Certainly hadn't kept the smell it had when it was baked, if it was any better at all.

It was a pie, but they only discern that by the pie tin. It had a green crust with similar green...ooze? It then twitched with life which freaked them out, what is in it and is it still alive? They poked it and it deflated...then expanded with a weird sound, like a beating heart.

"W-What is that? I feel like I'm going to puke!" There was a dull yellow note right next to the, pie?

 _'You fell asleep before I could ask you what flavor pie you would like. So I decided to use my old recipe, with a few supplements for the lack of snails.'_

The human felt sick to their stomach and core. Why snails and what supplement makes this suddenly a Frankenstein meal? In the end they decided not to hold onto the monster pie and try to find a way out.

There was the door that led into their room, but would the lonely gatekeeper approve of them leaving. Would Toriel be so cold hearted and kill them if they snuck away? So many questions that only a direct confrontation should yield it's horrid answers. So the child searched for a weapon in the room, something in case the gatekeeper would strike.

They first searched the closet and thier heart immediately sank with dread. There were enough children's clothing to support a large family, were there others before them. Did Toriel slay them because they denied her company, it was a thought too sick to think about for too long.

They opened a nearby toy box as the evil and sinister idea resurfaced too soon. There were toys and books made for small childern and the dust showed how long it's been since they been touched by such hands.

It just felt wrong if they grabbed a dead child's toy as a makeshift weapon, so they left the box alone.

The child then hid under the bed, feeling more then ever in danger by a lonely goat. They had to escape, but they hadn't a fathom of an idea on how. They did not know the layout or even the Ruins themselves since they passed out. Then the door opened with a loud creak and a dim flicker of candle light. Despite the light giving warm embrace, behind it lies a sinister fear and unknown evil.

The child was now shaking in fear of the gatekeeper and how their fate will soon join the childern in death. The covers that hid the child from the fearful candle light, filpped over to reveal the evil facade behind the light.

Toriel smiled like a mother would, but how many childern did she smile to before their untimely end? The child didn't know and so the smile terrified them even more of the gatekeeper.

They tried to crawl away, but Toriel's arm could reach anywhere under the bed. As the goat's arm gripped their leg like a corpse with chilling frostbite. The gatekeeper then dragged them out from under the bed with a coy smile.

"You aren't the first child to play hide and seek with me." She states as she carries the child by the leg throughout her home. "I thought about what to do with you today, maybe a good lesson on snails?" The thought of the living pie struck the terrifying chord with the child, hence why their face is full of green.

The sicken human took note of what was around the house while the gatekeeper carried them. It was a rather bland and broken house with rotten wood and broken picture frames. The outside was rarely visible as the windows were mostly barricaded, but what they could see between the boards were the white eyes of the living. Whatever is outside was watching and wanting them, so exiting the front door was a no go if these creatures were anything like the gatekeeper.

Speaking of the front door it was also barricaded, just recently in fact by the condition of the wood. Despite the bone chilling thought of Toriel's obvious despriation to keep them here, there is a chance. On the opposite side of the door was apparently an open basement with a locked gate with a chain. If escape was there then it was the reason why it is locked. Seams like it needs two keys to open into such a place.

Then Toriel dragged them into what seams like a living room with a moss covered fireplace. Said moss provided an ethereal red glow, an illusion to a fire that was just lit. The gatekeeper then sat them down on a torn chair.

"Stay right here, I'll prepare breakfast before we begin the lesson." The gatekeeper ordered as she walked into her kitchen. A dreaded thought occurred to them, what happens if they reject her cooking. They did it with the pie, but it doesn't look like Toriel noticed that little detail. So what would happen, a thought of being cooked into a pie or throughly mutilated came into the humans mind.

They had to leave before the food is done, otherwise their fate will come sooner then they would like. The keys that held the human's freedom must be somewhere that Toriel trusts will be out of view.

Sliding off of the chair with a soft thud, the human deftly dashed acrossed the hall where the gate was. Near the gate were three door, including the room where they woke up back into the nightmare. They tried the one nearest to the gate, Inside was a poor recreation of a master bedroom. A scratched dresser with a broken mirror and a bed full of soot and cinders. The images to the human's imagination was soaring, but the keys are the priority.

Looking into the dresser was two keys, one black the other rusted, and a locked diary. Quickly they unlocked the diary with the more rusted key. They pocketed the black key and looked back at the now unlocked diary. Was it a trap of attention or was there something important to note in there. One page was all the time they could spare, so they flipped it to a random page.

 _'The monster came back to the door last midnight, we joked about pumpkins and snails. He's seems distant, I wonder if I should give him my snail recipe?'_

Apparently it was the last entry she written and the human didn't know what to make of it. Was she talking about the front door, then why would she barricade it to prevent seeing a friend? The questions that would be in their mind did not prioritize the problem.

There was still one more key, so where? Hopefully in the last room and not being on her person, that was too dreadful a thought to think about.

So with quick haste they went to the last room which had a sign about renovations. They opened it and it was complete darkness, not light to be seen and the light that did enter was consumed by the darkness. They ventured forwards with no clear direction, they just need to find the key.

"You're wondering around the dark like the gatekeeper does with her delusions." The child knew too well who that voice belonged to. "So your choice is to sneak out without a trace, but are you ready for consequences' embrace?" The crow chuckled as the flapping of his wings raced by their ears. "Then I shall give you the key in this dark room of memories glazed. Though I hope your ready for her rage and go through unfazed." The Crow rhymed for the secound time as something was paced over the child's neck.

"I just want to go home, p-please..." The child somberly spoke as only silence replied and reigned in the room. Had the bleakness of the situation made them hallucinate the crow and his mockery?

They left the room and was surprised as a black key on a string was around her neck. The child smiled, they could finally leave this decrepit tomb of horrors.

Then to their own fears manifests as a ding of a bell echoed throughout the house, Toriel finished breakfast.

With no time left for innocent dawdling they dashed to the gate, not caring how much noise they made.

"My child, it's time to eat...where did you go!" The roar of the gatekeeper almost made them drop the keys.

They finished with both keys just as Toriel spotted them. They only heard her angry yells as they ventured into the dark basement below.

It really was dark, an unknown tunnel or a very large room. They could not tell as they had been running for about a minute, the angry shouts never left.

They then slammed into a wall, it was inevitable for a wall to smash their hope for escape. They were on the stone floor, the yellings of Toriel were distorted yet even louder then before. The human then pushed themselves back up using the wall for support. Using it she slammed into another wall, but it felt different and the sound that echoed through the tunnel. They reached out for it and felt it cold metal against human flesh.

There was another gate!? The human would have slapped themselves across the head, had it not be for the concussion. How could they not realize it sooner, the friend that visits every night must be through this gate and not the front door.

They felt stupid, of course. How could they not be, if Toriel was a gatekeeper then where was the actual gate? They laughed quietly in dispair until they soon felt a warmth of light, different from Toriel's candlelight. It felt full of hope and happiness, it could be the concussion talking to her so why trust it? But an urging feeling says they must follow it, or else become a corpse.

They turned towards the warmth of light and saw a star. It was beautiful, how could they not notice this beauty that contrasted the decaying darkness they were in!? They reached out, to touch it and remember how it feels before she becomes a corpse of the gatekeeper. A flash of light and it was gone, just like her own hopes of escaping.

Then they heard a beastial breathing and feral growls. They turned back to the darkness they were running from and saw a familiar candlelight.

Then a grim realization came to the human, It was not a candle that Toriel carries. She was the candle, her fists glowing a hellish red that was fitting with the darkness around them.

"My child." The voice did not carry the hidden tone of a darker kindness from before. It was rage incarnate, the Devil's Beast that was about to be unleashed upon the human. "My child..." She wailed out her crying tears evident of her psychological obsession. "My dear, sweet, and only child." Toriel's flame grew brighter and expanded upon her entire being, save for her feral eyes of insanity. "Why do you run from me, do you hate me!?" She drew ever closer to the child, they were too tired to move away from this beast. "I gave you my unconditional love and this is what I get! I protected you from the fiends outside on both fronts!" The hellish fire sparks near the child. "If you won't accept this love, then you don't deserve any!" Then her fires of hate and rage were unbound and crashed into the human, they were burned to a crisp.

save loaded...

They awakened with a start, a nightmare...was the hell over? Then they saw the position they were in, but different.

They were in the tunnel before Toriel unleashed her flames of rage. However the wounds they had before were now gone, no concussion or the feeling of pain they had beforehand. It was a moment of respite that soon died out when they looked ahead.

They saw the uncomfortable fires of Toriel just ahead of this dark and dreary corridor. If they are doomed to repeat this hellish journey, then they must try to survive.

"My child." There she goes and if the human's theory is correct, then they have a minute before she unleashes her fire. "My child..." They tried to open the gate, only for it to be obviously locked. "Are you ignoring me!?" The human turned towards the goat that was now on fire. "If you want to leave me so badly, here!" She threw her fireballs at the human, to their shock it was the same pattern as before.

Since they are somehow in perfect condition and have good memory of the attack, they avoided it easily.

"I'll show you that no one else will love you, but me!" She threw several more fire ball. However while they were singed by some of them, they were mostly unharmed. "No one, but me!" This time it was a stream of fire that was directed at them, it was predictable so they were okay when the fire was extinguished. "Aghhh!" If The gatekeeper was anger before, now she was absolutely livid. Now there was a combination of the attacks, fireballs and the fire stream. They were badly scorched by the flames that they were surprised they lived from it. "I will teach you." Fireballs. "And you will learn..." slower, but bigger versions of said fireballs. "To love me!" Now it was the grand finale, a fast streak of Fire zoomed by them followed by some fireballs. Lastly a fire stream almost burned them alive like last time.

"Like the..." Now there was barely any fire, she looks fatigued. "Rest of..." There was no more fire, beside the ones that now lit the small corridor. "The childern..." She then kneeled to the ground completely exhausted from so much rage and fire. "Why must the childern leave me!? leave me and fall to Asgore's trident?" She was now sobbing, so much past trauma that the human had no experiences of. "I tried to save them, but they kept leaving and walking to their graves." It definitely seams hypocritical of her because she did just kill the human a minute ago. She then notices the burns of the human child that she herself inflicted. "I'm so sorry, I could have hurt you. Please leave, I don't want to bear this anymore..."

It just felt wrong to leave her even if she did killed the child. The child then hugged the crying goat woman, hoping to whatever higher powers to make sure she doesn't squeeze them to death. The goat wailed to a much greater degree, before pushing them off and running back home. Then the child felt something in their hand, cold and metallic to the touch. Surprising that it came from a goat who controls fire. Only one place where this can go, so with a fast jab and turn with the new key the gate was now unlocked.

Before they could push the heavy metal door, a cawing from the crow made them stop.

"Well, well, you spared the gatekeeper. Then again you really don't have a weapon besides your fists." The snickers from the crow came from everywhere. "It's a nice gesture, to spare death to a broken and old woman." The human looked around, but despite the flames lighting the area there was no sign of the crow. "But will you do that to everybody? Some will be more tenacious and willing even more for your death, like Asgore." The human tried to block out the crow's voice. "Will you let death swipe you away, or will you land first blood on a monster's dusty corpse?" The crow's cackling echoed throughout the tunnel, then it stop.

"I'm not like that, I-I know it." They then forced the door open, letting a cold chill of death in and reaping the flames. "I-It will be hard, but I know I can do it!" With a promise to themselves they braved the cold wasteland outside.


	3. Chapter 3

The unforgiving chill that invade the child's skin made them wish they had asked Toriel for a coat. Turning their back to the dark corridor they heard screaming, Yeah they're not going back.

Taking the first steps into the tundra wastes was when they notice how, undead it was. It was a gigantic snow covered forest, but the wood was rotten and dying. Like if they touch the bark they would feel the dying life the trees once had.

The most spine tingling detail though was the snow itself. It wasn't bleak or scary, but it had been paved for movement so chances are high that a monster would eventually find them.

The feeling of helplessness never left the child as they trudged the bleak atmosphere. A need for a weapon invaded their priorities above all else, lest they be found by a more sinister being then Toriel. So a simple stick might do, but there was absolutely none on the untouched snow. It's strange that forest would be so clean, and quiet like thier breathing.

Then a god blessing had happened upon them, a stick the size of thier entire body. They rushed towards it, a feeling of small protection that had given them a feeling of rare hope. However when they did get there, it was too heavy for them to life. Even when trying to snap the dead bark it would not break, like despair itself fueled its defense.

With the sense of safety forgotten they trudged a little further before-

'Snap!' It was the sound of the same stick breaking for a foreign entity, a monster.

They didn't bother looking back, they ran faster then they had in the basement. This monster does not have the same guilty resentment that Toriel had, they were sure of it.

They then saw a bridge that had bars so poorly made that it looked more like a decoration. Just before their foot even got close to the wooden construct they heard the sound of snow being crushed. They froze, why, why did they freeze in fear of a monster!? Was this the subconscious acceptance of their own death?

 **"Hey buddy..."** The voice was gurgling for a lack of a better word, it's like a sound you would hear from boiling oil. It was nonetheless terrifying for them. **"Don't you know how to greet an new pal?"** What? A pal, a friend? Was this the crow pulling a sick joke on them, even for a friend like him it was just wrong!

They turned around to face whoever it was. To their grim dismay, the dim light had somehow distorted into a shadow form with the only light being the eyes it possessed. Bright white like oblivion had enveloped itself iinside a shadow shell.

It then reached out its long and thin arm to the scared child in hopes they would handshake. **"Here, shake my hand. I don't bite, much..."** It drew out the last part, creating an ominous thought into the child's mind. They reached out, preparing themselves if it was a trap for them.

 _'Pffft...'_ There was a long pause as the child did a double take. In the monster's now noticeable wooden claw was a Whoopi cushion, a prank had been put on them.

"Ha, the look on your face! Truly nothing can beat the classics like this!" As the monster laughed the human now had a clear view of him. It was a literal personification of a scarecrow, a pumpkin head that glowed with a dim yellow light, a tattered uniform of what a noble colonist would wear in the late 1800s, and the tone seamed to shift around the monster.

No longer was there an aura of fear and terror, but now rather a feeling of laughter and the serene calm. The monster's pumpkin features shifted from a smile and mischievous eyes, to a confused and deadpan one. The fact that every inched that it moved made a squishy sound akin to stretching human flesh did little to lighten the child's mood.

"Normally this is when you laugh or act shocked." There was silence from the human. The new tone of his voice changed into something like mist or an echo, a plus was that there was no gurgle. "Strange human, perhaps you can so far because of that." The human pouted from this scarecrow's rudeness. "Hey now, just speaking from the 'hearth'." There was a stone cold pause between the two as the scarecrow smiled.

The human had suddenly laughed for the very first time, it felt like an eternity since a bout of laughter hit them. Maybe they were wrong about this seemingly horrid place, maybe they just landed on the wrong side of the mountain.

"Y-You.." Their voice was still hoarse from a thirst they had been denied for so long. "A-Are not allowed to make a joke again."

The scarecrow feign horror by the human's proclamation, at least as far as they can tell. "No, I can't handle that! My comedy must grow from it's roots!" The human laughed more, he's not bad and he hasn't tried to burn them alive.

The scarecrow then stepped over the human in a clumsy, If on purpose manner. "Well, I must be going now. Or else my bro will throw a mad seed, He he." The human did not get the joke as the scarecrow walked the bridge.

"W-Wait!" There was no way they would lose the one friend that actually decided to cheer them up.

The scarecrow stopped and crouched down to meet the child's eyesight, this monster is more tall then they thought. "Hay now.." The scarecrow stated as they picked the child up, his arms were surprisingly soft instead of coarse. "Are you sure? My bro is a human hunting fanatic, unlike yours truly." The human nodded as soon as he finished. "You're very determined to 'hollow' me till the end, aren't you?" The child laughed and the scarecrow did the same. "Cool, name's Jacko." Jacko put the human down after a few odd moments of silence.

"Okay, let's go before my bro spots us." The child then followed the slower Jacko for literally about five secounds. When he stopped and the child did the same, they noticed a sentry post that was hidden by the dead forest fauna. "Oh no, I see him in the distance! Quick behind that conveniently shaped lamp post!" The child now noticed a lamp with the exact proportions and oddly similar color scheme to themselves.

How and why there's a lamp designed for them now of all places were all questions for another time. Now is the time to hide behind the lamp, their back against the lamp.

They waited and only heard silence, then wondering with Jacko is pranking them so quickly again. That was before a more heavy crunching of snow and rustling of leaves that should not be here.

"Brother!" The sound was way louder then the human had prepared for. It sound like someone gave that He-man villain a megaphone attached to a loudspeaker. "Why have you abandoned your post! I had to lie to Undyne for you...again." There was a sound of leaves rubbing against leaves.

"Sorry that I had to feed you to the fishes bro, had to do something." Jacko apologizes, yet the child felt like he used a pun again.

"Aghh, that one was terrible! Anyway have you seen a human? That's why you always disappear around here right, brother?" The voice was scratchy at first, but when the volume died down it now more sounded like a child.

"Eh, yeah that right. Well I truly am sorry bro, maybe today you will find a human today." There was silence between the two. "In fact I made a human lamp that will motivate you, it's right behind me." The child clutched on the lamp, Jacko had betrayed them.

"No, thanks Jacko, maybe later..." The heavy rustling leaves fading into the distance meant that the brother had left.

"Okay kid you can come-!?" The child came running out of the conveniently shaped lamp. They collided with the scarecrow with a little thud before futility pounding on him.

"You lied!" The quiet and hoarse stutter gone and replaced with a feeling of betrayal. "Do you want me to get captured?"

The pumpkin on Jacko's head crunched into a frown. "Now why would I do that, I'm on my break after all?" The human looked up at the frowning scarecrow, confused and baffled. "I mean, if I wasn't on break I would throw you in a bag." The human frown and scowled at how easily he would lie and turn on a friend. "But since I'm not, I'm just going to watch the fireworks." The child turned, not wanting to be anywhere near Jacko or anyone else down here.

When they did turn around, wanting to blow up on the scarecrow; he was gone. Silence reigned around the sentry area, speaking of which. There was the one sentry post near the lamp, it was badly constructed. The plywood was misplaced and the nails were threatening to pop off the structure and foundation. Inside the open sentry post were thousands dead leaves of autumn.

Strange how that is the most interesting thing about the post.

Then the feeling emerged, a hope blossoming Inside the post. There it was the light again so uplifting and joyous was their heart that moment. When they swiped at the light it disappeared in a flash, same as last time as the doubt that emerged soon after. What was the point of those lights if only to test their sanity?

Not wanting to be around the area of sadness and doubt, they ventured forth.

Another sentry post, though it was well made even if the dense smell of smoke was a negative. They walked by to get a better look and suddenly had to jerk back in surprise when a knife was grazed over their cheek. They stopped and look up at the fast assailant and wanted to laugh and cry. It was a dog, a husky to be precise, it had a bandanna over it's eyes.

It then bark three times at the child. "Who moved! I can only see moving things! So whooooo!?" It barked in a rage then he sniffed he then jerks and coughs by the action. "Aghh..Asriel's corpse I need a smoke." As the dog was dazed, the child thought of moving from the dog and his two daggers. They then regret that decision as the dog snapped his attention to them. "Got you!"

They suddenly felt deathly cold, looking down one of his daggers was thrown into their chest. As they tried to get the dagger out their rib cage, the other one went through the human's head.

Save loaded...

They gasped as they were now back at the ruined post. "S-So that's it then..." They stuttered in the cold forest. They may be a child, but they weren't a fool. "I can't die, why?" They hugged themselves as the feeling of death creeped in. They shook the feeling away and approched the blind dog's post again. They knew what was coming and dodged the knife grazer.

"Who moved! I can see only moving things! So whooooo!?" The dog then coughed from both the sniff and the yell. "Aghh...Asriel's corpse I need a smoke." Unlike last time the human stood still as the dog walked around. "I know you're out there. Come out now or get gutted!" The dog was now directly over them the two daggers glowed a bright cyan. The dog began swinging at a rapid pace and the human decided to accept that fate with eyes closed. Unlike the other times it actually ticked like it was fan blowing on their face.

They opened their eyes and found themselves unharmed. The dog however, was exhausted with coughs between each breath. "I'm *cough* too old *wheeze* for this." The dog then was the post as a crutch before collapsing on the ground. "Smoke, doggo wants smoke...if you are really out there!" It Yelled before dropping into a mad coughing fit.

The child actually felt bad for Doggo, it wasn't his fault he can't see. They slowly walked around Doggo and found a box of dog treats and a lighter. They would felt it humorous had the guilt not wash it away. Standing three feet away from Doggo they tossed the items.

The items made a thunk as they landed on Doggo's face. "Nice throw, asshole." Doggo struggled to sit up and against the post. He used the lighter and then smoked the dog treats. "That's the stuff." He blew out a puff of smoke in reliving satisfaction. "Well at least you didn't throw rat poison, that's a bitch to get out of digestion." He threw a treat at the human with a smoker's grin. "Here, for the trouble I may have cause you. Hope you have a lighter."

They were too young to smoke, but the treat itself may be delicious. "Thanks, but do you know where the nearest town is?" It's the only way for them to get home, rely on a stranger's directions.

Doggo laughed before coughing again. "Dear Asgore, never though there be a day when a monster would ask a blind dog for directions!" The child laughed as well, it was pretty silly. "Well just go straight that way." He pointed in the way they came from. "Or that way, I'm blind remember?" He pointed in the other direction, dropping his treat in the process. "Son of a bitch!"

They decided to just follow the blind dog's direction and hope they find a town.

Not even five steps later the scarecrow decided to jump on them. "Hello squirt!" They jumped back from Jacko's jumpscare. "Sorry to pop in unnannoced, but I thought you need to know this!" His previous wooden hand turned cyan, just like Doggo's knife. "My brother uses blue attacks, stop before they hit you. Imagine a blue stop sign, but deadly!" His hand returned to the normal brown. "Remember don't forget, think of it now, or risk falling into your grave!" Jacko laughed before disappearing in a blink of an eye.

The child blinked from that sudden event, but nonetheless continued onwards with that knowledge.

The snow below their feet seamed to cackle at thier freezing body. They really don't want to be out here anymore. A sudden gust of wind made them cry out from the chill and the source was right in front of them.

"Chill out human, your soul will be mine!" A small dragon with the face of a bird and had dull shades of cyan blue. "Once I take it, I'll love a ice life!" The human cringed a little, at least Jacko knew when to stop. Several ice crescents formed out of the air near the monster. "I hope you like frost-scythe!" The ice crescents were launched and by some miracle the child was only injured twice.

"That pun wasn't very funny." Even though it was the truth, it was a cruel slip of the tounge.

The monster roared with rage as the area around them grew colder. "Just like the rest! why don't you get it!?" With one hasty gust of cold wind they flung the child to a dead tree. "I will say that I am funny and you will die laughing!"

"Okay, I get it..." The child muttered as they bit their tounge to prevent stutter. The ice monster glared ice daggers at them as they continued. "But not everyone will find joke hilarious or even worth a chuckle."

The monster scoffed at them, despite the truth hurting more then anything in his eyes. "You..." The child mentally prepared for a deadly attack. "Are totally correct!" To the child's surprise the monster started to cry. "I'm a failure at comedy! The only punchline I'm good at is the slapstick, an actual stick!" The sight made the child have a small feeling of guilt. "Even my dad disowned me for it, just leave me here to be a frosty chicken tender!"

The human wanted to apologize, but the words were already spoken. The child left without uttering a word or a single apology. It pained them to leave such a poor soul in pieces, but there was nothing they could do.

With a heavy heart of iron they marched on, the journey preying on their mind. It truly was a labyrinth with no clear way out or even a way to name a direction.

With the lack of direction besides forward they tripped over a relatively large rock. A rock, but now they noticed strange absence of rocks. Only trees and the rock, which on closer inspection was a crate with a worn out note.

It was unintelligible to decipher thanks to the snow that eroded the ink.

They opened the crate deciding that they have nothing left to lose.

They were honestly surprised what just happened.

 **(A/N: you know I have not done an author's note in a while, huh. Anyway I think I will end the chapter here with a nice cliff hanger because I have no idea how to end a chapter like this. I will also have you know I haven't seen deltarune yet because I believe undertale is best as a stand-alone story.)**


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